Category: Conditions

The plausible positive alternative to COVID-19

Do you remember those old cartoons with the angel or good guy on one shoulder and the little devil or bad guy on the other? Of course, the good guy was always trying to keep the character out of mischief, and certainly, the little devil was doing quite…

The exacerbation of social isolation among the elderly

COVID-19 has rapidly spread across the nation, leading to the implementation of stringent social distancing guidelines by local and regional authorities. In a desperate effort to limit infection rates, in-person social interactions have been reduced, a…

Who should we really be testing for COVID-19?

The Canadian federal government recently announced it would fund at least one million blood tests to track the novel coronavirus over the next two years.  This is a step in the right direction.  But is it enough? How do we know if we are testing the ri…

Beyond awareness, we need to drive change in mental health 

While 1 in 5 Americans live with a mental illness and almost half of U.S. adults will experience one during their lifetime, the events of the past several weeks remind us that raising awareness around mental health is critical for everyone. While it’s …

False certainty and blanket statements: Not even the WHO is immune

The World Health Organization (WHO) says there is currently “no evidence” showing that people who have recovered from the coronavirus are not at risk of becoming infected again. “Some governments have suggested that the detection of a…

Rebuilding a post-coronavirus culture of medicine

In a previous article, I have described the physician burnout epidemic as a raging river whose features included safety nets designed to catch people before “going over the falls,” the need to teach individual survival skills (e.g., resilience), evalua…

Please don’t call me a hero. This is what nurses have always done.

Before becoming a certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA), I was a surgical intensive care unit (SICU) nurse for decades. During that time, I often saw patients during their greatest time of need – trauma victims, transplant recipients, patients …

Practice social distancing because the lives of your health care workers matter

I was in medical school when the world saw the news of the Zika and Ebola viruses, but never have I seen mass hysteria to this level for COVID-19. No longer is coronavirus what is depicted in a copy of First Aid for the USMLE Step 1, where it says coro…

Should online shopping include online labs?

For $149, you can go online and obtain a “basic wellness” panel of labs. You can see for yourself if you have anemia or diabetes. For another $300, you can sign up for a “premium” package to check out how your liver and thyroid …

Evidence-based methods for the decontamination of N95 respirators

This document is meant for information purposes. Please review the CDC guidelines for N95 mask contingency planning. FDA-approved methods On March 29, 2020, the FDA issued an emergency use authorization for a proprietary hydrogen peroxide vapor (HPV) s…